Andy Murray was gifted a place in the final of the Brisbane International after Kei Nishikori retired from their semi-final with a knee injury.

Defending champion and world No. 3 Murray was a set and a break to the good when Nishikori confirmed he could not continue and offered his hand.

It was far from plain sailing for Murray as, like in his previous two matches, he was tested to the full. Japanese fifth seed Nishikori broke early and raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set before dropping the next eight games in a row.

He received an injury time-out late in the first set but it did not aid his cause and he retired when trailing 6-4 2-0.

Murray will meet Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 5-7 7-6(5) in the other semi-final, in Sunday's final.

Murray is likely to be far sharper than Dimitrov as while the Brit was off court in 45 mintues, it took the Bulgarian almost two and a half hours to see off Baghdatis.